DGN_COMP(6) 1995 DGN_COMP(6)
NAME
dgn_comp - NetHack dungeon compiler
SYNOPSIS
dgn_comp [ file ]
If no arguments are given, it reads standard input.
DESCRIPTION
Dgn_comp is a dungeon compiler for NetHack version 3.2 and
higher. It takes a description file as an argument and pro-
duces a dungeon "script" that is to be loaded by NetHack at
runtime.
The purpose of this tool is to provide NetHack administra-
tors and implementors with a convenient way to create a cus-
tom dungeon for the game, without having to recompile the
entire world.
GRAMMAR
DUNGEON: name bonesmarker ( base , rand ) [ %age ]
where name is the dungeon name, bonesmarker is a letter for
marking bones files, ( base , rand ) is the number of lev-
els, and %age is its percentage chance of being generated
(if absent, 100% chance).
DESCRIPTION: tag
where tag is currently one of HELLISH, MAZELIKE, or ROGUE-
LIKE.
ALIGNMENT | LEVALIGN: [ lawful | neutral | chaotic |
unaligned ]
gives the alignment of the dungeon/level (default is
unaligned).
ENTRY: level
the dungeon entry point. The dungeon connection attaches at
this level of the given dungeon. If the value of level is
negative, the entry level is calculated from the bottom of
the dungeon, with -1 being the last level. If this line is
not present in a dungeon description, the entry level
defaults to 1.
PROTOFILE: name
the prototypical name for dungeon level files in this
dungeon. For example, the PROTOFILE name for the dungeon
Vlad's Tower is tower.
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LEVEL: name bonesmarker @ ( base , rand ) [ %age ]
where name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter for
marking bones files, ( base , rand ) is the location and
%age is the generation percentage, as above.
RNDLEVEL: name bonesmarker @ ( base , rand ) [ %age ]
rndlevs
where name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter for
marking bones files, ( base , rand ) is the location, %age
is the generation percentage, as above, and rndlevs is the
number of similar levels available to choose from.
CHAINLEVEL: name bonesmarker prev_name + ( base , rand ) [
%age ]
where name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter for
marking bones files, prev_name is the name of a level
defined previously, ( base , rand ) is the offset from the
level being chained from, and %age is the generation percen-
tage.
RNDCHAINLEVEL: name bonesmarker prev_name + ( base , rand )
[ %age ] rndlevs
where name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter for
marking bones files, prev_name is the name of a level
defined previously, ( base , rand ) is the offset from the
level being chained from, %age is the generation percentage,
and rndlevs is the number of similar levels available to
choose from.
LEVELDESC: type
where type is the level type, (see DESCRIPTION, above). The
type is used to override any pre-set value used to describe
the entire dungeon, for this level only.
BRANCH: name @ ( base , rand ) [ stair | no_up | no_down |
portal ] [ up | down ]
where name is the name of the dungeon to branch to, and (
base , rand ) is the location of the branch. The last two
optional arguments are the branch type and branch direction.
The type of a branch can be a two-way stair connection, a
one-way stair connection, or a magic portal. A one-way
stair is described by the types no_up and no_down which
specify which stair direction is missing. The default
branch type is stair. The direction for a stair can be
either up or down; direction is not applicable to portals.
The default direction is down.
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DGN_COMP(6) 1995 DGN_COMP(6)
CHAINBRANCH: name prev_name + ( base , rand ) [ stair |
no_up | no_down | portal ] [ up | down ]
where name is the name of the dungeon to branch to,
prev_name is the name of a previously defined level and (
base , rand ) is the offset from the level being chained
from. The optional branch type and direction are the same
as described above.
GENERIC RULES
Each dungeon must have a unique bonesmarker , and each spe-
cial level must have a bonesmarker unique within its dungeon
(letters may be reused in different dungeons). If the
bonesmarker has the special value "none", no bones files
will be created for that level or dungeon.
The value base may be in the range of 1 to MAXLEVEL (as
defined in global.h ).
The value rand may be in the range of -1 to MAXLEVEL.
If rand is -1 it will be replaced with the value
(num_dunlevs(dungeon) - base) during the load process (ie.
from here to the end of the dungeon).
If rand is 0 the level is located absolutely at base.
Branches don't have a probability. Dungeons do. If a
dungeon fails to be generated during load, all its levels
and branches are skipped.
No level or branch may be chained from a level with a per-
centage generation probability. This is to prevent non-
resolution during the load. In addition, no branch may be
made from a dungeon with a percentage generation probability
for the same reason.
As a general rule using the dungeon compiler:
If a dungeon has a protofile name associated with it (eg.
tower) that file will be used.
If a special level is present, it will override the above
rule and the appropriate file will be loaded.
If neither of the above are present, the standard generator
will take over and make a "normal" level.
A level alignment, if present, will override the alignment
of the dungeon that it exists within.
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DGN_COMP(6) 1995 DGN_COMP(6)
EXAMPLE
Here is the current syntax of the dungeon compiler's
"language":
#
# The dungeon description file for the "standard" original
# 3.0 NetHack.
#
DUNGEON: "The Dungeons of Doom" "D" (25, 5)
LEVEL: "rogue" "none" @ (15, 4)
LEVEL: "oracle" "none" @ (5, 7)
LEVEL: "bigroom" "B" @ (12, 3) 15
LEVEL: "medusa" "none" @ (20, 5)
CHAINLEVEL: "castle" "medusa" + (1, 4)
CHAINBRANCH: "Hell" "castle" + (0, 0) no_down
BRANCH: "The Astral Plane" @ (1, 0) no_down up
DUNGEON: "Hell" "H" (25, 5)
DESCRIPTION: mazelike
DESCRIPTION: hellish
BRANCH: "Vlad's Tower" @ (13, 5) up
LEVEL: "wizard" "none" @ (15, 10)
LEVEL: "fakewiz" "A" @ (5, 5)
LEVEL: "fakewiz" "B" @ (10, 5)
LEVEL: "fakewiz" "C" @ (15, 5)
LEVEL: "fakewiz" "D" @ (20, 5)
LEVEL: "fakewiz" "E" @ (25, 5)
DUNGEON: "Vlad's Tower" "T" (3, 0)
PROTOFILE: "tower"
DESCRIPTION: mazelike
ENTRY: -1
DUNGEON: "The Astral Plane" "A" (1, 0)
DESCRIPTION: mazelike
PROTOFILE: "endgame"
NOTES:
Lines beginning with '#' are considered comments.
A special level must be explicitly aligned. The alignment
of the dungeon it is in only applies to non-special levels
within that dungeon.
AUTHOR
M. Stephenson (from the level compiler by Jean-Christophe
Collet).
SEE ALSO
lev_comp(6), nethack(6)
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BUGS
Probably infinite.
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